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Getting Ready for Next

By on May 20, 2009 in —Next/New Attitude

I’m in the middle of preparing for the Next conference, that starts this Saturday, May 23, and ends on Tuesday, May 26. Over 2500 mostly single men and women will be gathering in Baltimore to hear D.A. Carson, C.J. Mahaney, Josh Harris, Kevin DeYoung, and Sinclair Ferguson expound on the glory of Jesus Christ. Next was previously called New Attitude, and was started by Josh Harris. It’s continued almost every year since 1999. From the website: Next isn’t built on “new.” It isn’t about the next trend or fad. Next is built on the old, treasured, and true. It’s about rediscovering old truth and recommitting to it. The vision of Next is to gather …

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Songs from the 2009 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference (and a free song)

By on April 15, 2009 in —Other Events

Things have been kind of busy around here lately. Last week I had the privilege of leading worship for the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Conference. Had about 800 folks came, including around 170 guests. The main messages were rich. CJ Mahaney spoke twice on 1 Pet. 5:1-4, focusing our eyes on the great Shepherd and the high calling of caring for his people. Dave Harvey addressed “What Makes the Great Commission Great?” He offered a compelling presentation of a church-based mission strategy. Jeff Purswell spoke from 2 Tim. 2:15 on “The Pastor and His Teaching.” He challenged us and equipped us for the priority of preaching God’s Word. Jared Mellinger …

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WorshipGod09 Rates About to Go Up

By on March 28, 2009 in —WorshipGod Conferences

If you’re thinking about coming to WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation, Aug. 5-8, rates go up $25 next Wednesday, April 1. Right now high school and college students are $85, groups of 5 or more are $110, and individuals are $135. Looks like it’s going to be a great time. Main session speakers include John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, Thabiti Anyabwile, and yours truly. Don Whitney will be speaking on family worship and cultivating a thirst for God. Musical guests include Keith and Kristyn Getty, Christian hip-hop artist Shai Linne, and guitarist Ben Gowell. We’ll also have a number of the musicians, bands, and pastors that I’ve …

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WorshipGod09 Registration Now Open

By on February 27, 2009 in —WorshipGod Conferences

The WorshipGod09 website is now up. Here’s what I posted on the home page: What are we teaching future generations about worshiping God? What kind of legacy will we leave? Will those who follow us be more impressed with our music or our God? Maybe the psalmist had those questions in mind when he wrote, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4 ESV)? To equip us for declaring the mighty acts of God to the next generation, John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, and Thabiti Anyabwile will be addressing us at the general sessions of WorshipGod09. Keith and Kristyn Getty will also …

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WorshipGod09 Registration Delayed Until Friday

By on February 24, 2009 in —WorshipGod Conferences

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Prov. 16:9) So glad that verse is in the Bible. We had planned to open registration for WorshipGod09 tonight at 12:01 AM, but things have been a little busy around here. So if you planned to register for WorshipGod09 tomorrow, you won’t be able to. The only reason I mention it is that we typically give the first person who signs up a free registration. And I don’t want anyone staying up until midnight tonight to try to be the first one to register. Lord willing, the website will launch and registration will open this Friday, Feb. 27, at 12:01 AM. Thanks for your patience. …

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Remembering WorshipGod08 — Anticipating WorshipGod09

By on February 10, 2009 in —WorshipGod Conferences, Videos

This past week I’ve been finalizing the seminars for WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation, to be held Aug. 5-8 at Covenant Life Church. With the suggestions from last year’s conference, comments left on this blog, and a few other sources, I’ve had plenty of ideas to choose from. The schedule is just about complete, and I’m pretty excited about the way things are turning out. One recent development is that Keith and Kristyn Getty will be joining us again. They’ll be teaching two seminars on songwriting and sharing some of their songs in a main session. I’ve also asked pastor and Christian rapper Shai Linne to encourage us with his unique …

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Ideas for WorshipGod09 Seminars

By on January 9, 2009 in —WorshipGod Conferences

I’m in the midst of planning for our WorshipGod09 conference, “From Generation to Generation.” It will be held Aug. 5-8, in Gaithersburg, MD, right outside of Washington, D.C. I announced earlier that John Piper — pastor, theologian, author, and friend — will be taking two main sessions. I’m also looking forward to doing a session with C.J. Mahaney where we’ll talk about what we’ve learned about worship over the past 30 years. We got some great responses from our evaluation form this past year on things we can improve about the conference. I’m excited about some of the changes we’ll be making. But one area I’d love to hear your thoughts …

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John Piper Speaking at WorshipGod09

By on December 17, 2008 in —Friends, —WorshipGod Conferences

Even though 2008 isn’t finished yet, I’m in the midst of planning for our next worship conference, WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation, to be held Aug. 5-8, 2009, in Gaithersburg, MD. The main messages will address the importance of passing on biblical values of corporate worship from one generation to the next. I was thrilled when John Piper of Desiring God Ministries agreed to come. He’ll be speaking Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I was also able to confirm my good friend, Jeff Purswell, as a main speaker. Jeff has served us well in the past by providing messages that are biblically rich, theologically insightful, and spiritually …

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When Things Don’t Go As Planned

By on December 16, 2008 in —Training a Team, —WorshipGod Conferences

What do you do when in the middle of leading worship you have a train wreck? We had the opportunity to find out at the WorshipGod conference last August. Joseph Stigora, from Covenant Fellowship in Philadelphia, was doing a great job leading with his team. But as he started into a musical rendition of Psalm 96, things took a turn for the worse. The band was suddenly playing in two keys. At the same time. You can watch it for yourself here. While God commends the development of skill (Prov. 22:29), and laziness is no excuse for lack of preparation, there are times that even deliberate practice doesn’t keep us from messing up. But …

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Together for the Gospel CD Now Available

By on December 5, 2008 in —Hymns, —Song Downloads, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

Last April I had the joy of leading over 5000 individuals, mostly men, in times of corporate worship at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. Dave Mackenzie, who works for Sovereign Grace, set up mics to record the event, and I’m happy to let you know you can now buy the CD at the Sovereign Grace store. I’ll warn you. If you’re looking for incredible drum tracks, awesome guitar sounds, and a thumping bass,  you’ll have to look elsewhere. Together for the Gospel Live is just me on the piano and 5000 voices belting out 16 hymns, old and new, that magnify the gospel and glory of Christ. That’s it. Turns out that’s enough. …

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Developing Arrangements Quickly – Band on the Run Video

By on November 22, 2008 in —Arranging, —Music Theory, —Training a Team, —WorshipGod Conferences, Videos

Over the years I’ve tried to streamline our rehearsals. Part of it is knowing that folks have other things they’re involved in. Like being with their family. But the other part is that sometimes we just don’t have a lot of time to rehearse. So I’m always looking for ways to maximize that time. At the WorshipGod08 conference I led a seminar called “Band on the Run” that tried to address this issue, covering topics including context, feel, instrumentation, and structure. The seminar was also designed to help churches that were less familiar with arranging songs for a band. Below is a video of the seminar that lasts about 75 minutes. You can download a …

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Encouraging Spontaneity in Your Church

By on November 19, 2008 in —Other Events, —Spiritual Gifts, —Spontaneous Song, —Worship and the Pastor, —Worship and the Spirit

While at the Christian Musician Summit this past weekend I taught a workshop on Encouraging Spontaneity in Your Church. We had about 200 folks crammed into a room that held about 150, so it was, shall we say, a cozy setting. At one point, I led the group in singing spontaneous responses to different sections of Psalm 100, similar to what we did at the WorshipGod conference.  It’s a form of meditating on God’s Word through song. It was moving to hear how God spoke to different individuals through that exercise. Here’s a general outline of what I shared in the seminar. You can download my complete notes here. Cautions About Spontaneity 1. …

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Why Theology Matters to Christian Musicians

By on November 18, 2008 in —Defining Terms, —Leading a Team, —Other Events, —Worship and Music, —Worship and Scripture

This past weekend I spoke at the Christian Musician Summit on Why Theology Matters to Christian musicians. When Christian musicians get together, our tendency is to assume we all have our theology down and we can focus on honing our chops, discovering new gear, and improving our techniques and methodologies. Or maybe we think that theology isn’t that important. Whatever the reason, I wanted to make clear that even at the Christian Musicians Summit, theology matters. I started by saying that theology is literally the “study of God,” particularly as he has revealed himself in Scripture. It includes not only studying the Bible, but understanding …

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What is a Successful Christian Musician?

By on November 17, 2008 in —Defining Terms, —Leading a Team, —Other Events, —Worship and Music

This past weekend I had the joy of speaking on various topics at the Christian Musician Summit in Overlake, WA, near Seattle. It was a very encouraging time, and I met quite a few people who were currently using Worship Matters with their worship team. Great hooking up with old friends and making some new ones. I mentioned to a few folks that I’d be posting my message and workshop notes on my blog. So that’s what I’ll be doing over the next few days. In the opening session I spoke on “What is a Successful Christian Musician?” I chose that topic because I know that when we attend large conferences led by highly skilled musicians, we can be …

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Together for the Gospel Live CD Pre-Order

By on November 14, 2008 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —Together for the Gospel

The live CD that I mentioned in a previous post is now ready for pre-order at the Sovereign Grace Music site. Right now you can sample all the songs and download three songs for free: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing Jesus Paid it All All Hail the Pow’r of Jesus’ Name Go on over and let me know what you think. The CD should be ready by December. …

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